Expression of rat oligodendrocyte transcription factor 2 in COS-7 cells following its eukaryotic expression vector construction.

OBJECTIVES: The basic HLH transcription factor Olig is a key regulator for differentiating the oligodendrocyte lineage cells during development. Oligodendrocyte transcription factor 2 (Olig2) plays a crucial role in differentiating the oligodendrocytes in the spinal cord. We aimed to construct and investigate the eukaryotic expression recombinant plasmid in the rat Olig2.

DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING: The experiment was performed at the Laboratory of Neurobiology, Xuzhou Medical College from October 2011 to March 2012.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The pEGFP-N1 vector was purchased from Invitrogen. JM101 competent cells and COS-7 cells were preserved at the Laboratory of Neurobiology, Xuzhou Medical College, China. The Olig2 cDNA fragment was cloned by RT-PCR with the total RNA from the neonatal rat spinal cord, and subsequently cloned into pGEM-T vector. The confirmed Olig2 fragment was then cloned into the pEGFP-N1 vector. The right recombinant was transfected into COS-7 cells by lipofectamine 2000. The expression of the Olig2 in COS-7 cells was detected by RT-PCR and immunoblot analysis. Enzyme digestion and sequencing of the recombinant plasmid; and expression of the Olig2 were analyzed by fluorescence microscope and western blot.

RESULTS: The correct pEGFP-N1-Olig2 cloning was verified by restriction endonuclease digestion and sequencing. The western blot analysis indicated that the Olig2-GFP fusion protein was expressed in the COS-7/pEGFP-N1-Olig2 cells at 72 h.

CONCLUSIONS: The pEGFP-N1-Olig2 vector was constructed successfully. The Olig2-GFP fusion protein was expressed in the COS-7/pEGFP-N1-Olig2 cells. This study lays the foundation for further research in gene therapy for central nervous system demyelinating diseases.